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Packaging - ***
The packages have some big pluses, but some other minuses even things out.
One of the big pluses is that they are 'collector friendly'. Open
them up, and the figure is sandwiched between two plastic trays. No
twisties, nothing to damage, easy to get out and just as easy to put back.
Another plus is the text on the front, using Lovecraft's own words to
describe the beastie. The graphics are solid as well, emoting his style
of prose.
However, you can't see the monster particularly well within the box.
The window wraps around top to side, but it's still tough to get a good visual
on just what you're getting.
Sculpting - Cthulu ***1/2; Ghoul ***
You know, when SOTA announced they were doing a Ghoul figure, I was really
excited. How cool would it be to have a figure of Ron Sweed all dressed
up in his goatee and funky hat, flushing poor Froggy down the toilet?
For the folks from Detroit and Cleveland, that makes perfect sense.
Everyone else can just assume I've lost my mind.
But it wasn't that Ghoul, but rather the one from Pickman's Model, the
creature Pickman was painting when his friend figured out that it wasn't
imaginary characters that Pickman was painting, but rather something
real. The Ghoul is pretty much rendered as described in the books, a
Hell beast of sorts with massive fangs, gripping in one hand what's left of a
man, trampling the bodies of others. The sculpt is much more detailed
than the paint belies, with some great texturing of his skin, and excellent
work around the teeth eyes and tongue.
Scale will be the biggest issue for most folks on this character.
Measuring only 5 inches tall without the base, next to most 6" scaled
figures he looks like a big dog. He's a beast that really needs
treatment at about twice this size.
Cthulu's sculpt has even greater detail, with plenty of wrinkles, warts,
and suckers. Again, the paint doesn't quite do this sculpt justice,
hiding much of the detail rather than bringing it out. It's there
though, and I was very pleasantly surprised with him after having seen the
photos online.
Scale is still an issue for Cthulu though, who was described in the book in
terms of huge proportions. Here he's just about 8 inches tall, even out at the
top of the wings. He'd be impressive displayed with figures in the
2" range, but if you plan on putting him with the Movie Maniacs/Cult
Classics/Now Playing guys, he's going to come up somewhat short.
Cthulu stands great on his own, with his huge bulbous feet, but you'll need
to use the stand with the Ghoul, who was designed and sculpted specifically
for it.
Both figures have one other issue worth noting - obvious mold lines. This
was particularly true on the faces of both, where mold lines run through the
fangs of the Ghoul and the mouth tentacles of Cthulu, breaking the smooth
flow.
Paint - Cthulu ***; Ghoul **1/2
These are specialty market figures, commanding specialty market prices.
Unfortunately, it looks like the paint didn't quite make it up to specialty
market expectations.
However, it's important to note that these didn't turn out as bad as some
had predicted based on recent photos. They aren't the works of art that
the prototypes were, but that's not really a surprise. They aren't hunks of
crap either, falling more into the arena of mass market work.
Of the two, clearly Cthulu is superior. He has a greater number of
paint operations, and more detail work in his complex skin textures.
While he's predominately green, there's enough use of red and other colors on
the details to give him some pop on the shelf. Sure, some of these
details have a bit of slop in them, but he's far from the atrocity I was
actually expecting based on early photos.
Ghoul isn't quite as good, largely due to less complexity. His dark
brown skin has some use of dry brushing to bring out the detail, but it's not
enough to really give him much character. He's largely brown with a
white belly, with little of the sculpt detail highlighted by the paint.
His mouth work is the best of his applications, with a nice glossy wet
looking tongue, and disgusting fangs and teeth. The base also has a nice
mix of glossy wet looking bloody sections, and matte skin.
Considering the price point on these guys - close to $20 at most retailers
- you're really going to be expecting top of the line paint. Instead,
the work here reminds me of good quality mass market stuff, decent enough but
not the quality I was hoping for.
Articulation - Cthulu ***1/2; Ghoul **
Considering the rather complex design of Cthulu's sculpt, I was surprised by
his articulation.
He has ball jointed wings where they join the back, a ball jointed neck
(restricted a bit by the wings and tentacles, but not as much as you might
expect), ball jointed shoulders, cut wrists, and of course, bendy
tentacles. It's those bendy tentacles, which work quite well, that
pushed him up from three stars to three and a half.
He could have benefited by some sort of cut joints on the arms, but other
than that, there's really little else more that he could have been given.
The Ghoul doesn't get as lucky, and is a highly static figure. He
does have a ball jointed neck and ball jointed shoulders, but the range of
movement is highly restricted, and he really only looks good in a couple
poses. There's also cut wrists, which helps in getting the human body into his
left hand.
Accessories - Ghoul **; Cthulu Bupkis
Cthulu comes with zippo, although I'm not sure that accessories really make
sense in his case. My little mind can't come up with anything fitting,
but the more creative of you can probably come up with a good example of an
appropriate accessory.
The Ghoul has two really - the base of course, and the human he holds in
his left hand.
The base is littered with the decomposing and tortured remains of other
people, including one poor unfortunate who's being trampled on this very
moment by the right foot of the Ghoul. While the general gruesomeness of the
base gets high marks, it was done in a rather soft, oozing style, with less
detail to the individual parts.
The same is true for the man. He fits nicely in the Ghoul's hand, and
appears to have lost the top of his head. The Ghoul and Sylar appear to
have something in common.
Fun Factor - Cthulu ***; Ghoul *1/2
With the litter of human wreckage on the base, and the lack of much
poseability, the Ghoul doesn't make for a particularly good toy. However,
Cthulu has both playability AND a nice, general monster appearance, making him
useful fodder for games of good and evil.
Value - Cthulu **; Ghoul *1/2
At around $13 - $15, these would be an average value. But at $18 - $20,
they're on the expensive side, considering the scale and lack of accessories.
Things to Watch Out For -
If you're picking them out on the shelf, you'll want to do what you can to
choose the best paint job, but other than that normal warning, there's not
much else to worry about.
Overall - Cthulu ***; Ghoul **1/2
While Cthulu isn't quite as amazing as some of SOTA's other work, he is quite
a bit better than I had expected. Early photos really didn't do him
justice, and while the scale is a little small, he still makes a pretty
impressive figure on the shelf. Remember, McToys Dragons are certainly
not in scale with anything else, and they do pretty well. Cthulu is in a
similar scale in my mind.
Ghoul is hurt by a number of factors, including his small size and high
price tag. Of the set of four (if you include the black variant Cthulu),
he'll be the one to skip. Diehard Lovecraft fans may still want to pick
him up, considering how cool that particular story is, but the casual buyer
will be much more drawn to Dagon and Cthulu.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - Cthulu ***1/2; Ghoul ***
Paint - Cthulu ***; Ghoul **1/2
Articulation - Cthulu ***1/2; Ghoul **
Accessories - Ghoul **1/2; Cthulu Bupkis
Fun Factor - Cthulu ***; Ghoul **
Value - Cthulu **; Ghoul *1/2
Overall - Cthulu ***; Ghoul **1/2
Where to Buy -
These haven't quite hit stores yet, but should in just the next week or two
max. Some options:
- YouBuyNow has the
regular Cthulu for $19.
- Amazing Toyz has the singles for
$17, or the set of three for $52.
- CornerStoreComics has the
individual figures for $18.50 each, or the set of three for $54.
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